R&B Ingenue Coline Creuzot Won't Give Up The Chase

Houston has been known as the home of some of R&B's top vocalists, and Coline Creuzot is determined to be the next one. With three mixtapes featuring some of Houston hip-hop's heavy hitters, she has already acquired the attention of the streets.

Paul Wall, with whom she shares a manager, hosted her first mixtape, Head Turner, while Slim Thug and Chamillionaire guested on her second, Diamond In the Rough. Wall, Thugga, Chyco, J Paul Jr. and Lil Keke all feature on her third, Welcome To My World.

What separates Coline from other songstresses is her style of promotion; she hustles and passes out her own mixtapes at local hip-hop shows and events. She stands out as a beautiful young lady with something other than just another overlooked rapper's demo tape. Coline has a voice that needs to be heard.

But Coline is not just a singer; she also dances and writes music. She started ballet at age three, and her parents always kept her in dance classes as a child.

"I fell in love with singing around the age of nine," says Creuzot. Musically inspired by soulful artists such as Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway and Jazmine Sullivan, she had a strong foundation.

Now 25, Creuzot began writing around the same age she got into singing. "Back then I wrote songs about what the average nine or ten-year-old would talk about," she says with a laugh.

Coline was a member of two different groups: A high-school dance group and the singing group Trio, which started with two friends. Then, she says, "I realized that I love being able to write and express myself as a solo artist more, so I started to do my own thing."

Last October, Coline landed a publishing deal with EMI music as a songwriter. The singer takes writing very seriously and has a great passion for it, something she shares with her close friend and fellow Houston artist, Solange.

Coline has recorded some of the music that Solange wrote for demos, and was featured in Solo's "I Decided" video. She also toured some as one of Solange's background dancers.

"It just so happened I was in L.A. around the same time Solange was there shooting her video and she asked me to take part in it," Coline says. "Since we're such good friends, I couldn't say no."

As far as other songwriters and artists, Coline says she admires people like Cee-Lo, Ne-Yo, will.i.am and The-Dream. "I feel like the The-Dream is so talented, and is a great inspiration to me and my music," she says.

Coline's next project is another mixtape, The Chase, which she says is "somewhat like a free album."

"It's all original music," she says. "This tape will feature a lot of songs that are close to my heart, and I feel like there is no better time to open up musically than now."